The growth of Earth’s inner core: a new technique to constrain seismic properties in its outermost layers

Dr. Lauren Waszek, Department of Physics, NMSU

The inner core displays a hemispherical difference in seismic velocity, attenuation, and anisotropy, which is well-established from seismic studies. Recent observations reveal increasingly complex and regional features. However, geodynamical models generally only attempt to explain the basic east-west asymmetry. Regional seismic features, such as depth-dependence anisotropy or variation in hemisphere boundaries, are difficult to reproduce and relatively poorly constrained by seismic data. Processes to generate these complex features are debated.

The structures of the inner core are suggested to be formed as the inner core grows over time. Thus, the most recently-formed outermost layers likely hold the key to understanding the geodynamical mechanisms generating the inner core properties. Current datasets of the uppermost inner core and inner core boundary are limited by uneven data coverage, however. In the very uppermost inner core, seismic waves arrive with similar travel times and interfere, making measurements difficult.

Despite the uneven coverage of current datasets, we can use them to infer a very slow inner core super-rotation. The first ever global tomographical inversion for the inner core allows us to make regional observations, and map the lateral variation in the hemispherical structures. In the uppermost inner core, we have developed a new waveform modeling technique with synthetic data to separate these seismic phases, allowing us to measure the seismic properties in the very uppermost inner core. This, in combination with geodynamical modeling, will help us determine how the inner core hemispheres and other features are generated.